Craig Tiley, CEO of the Australian Slam: “We should start discussing it with the athletes, it’s a hypothesis that needs to be taken into consideration.” The idea is to play 5 sets only from the quarterfinals onwards
It is one of the most frequent debates in the history of tennis and, perhaps, a turning point could come as early as next season. The women’s Australian Open tournament could in fact be played in the best of five sets, albeit not for the entire duration of the two weeks. The hypothesis was relaunched by Craig Tiley, CEO of Tennis Australia, who spoke after the women’s final of the Slam in Melbourne. “One of the things I think is that women should also play three sets out of five. Certainly, if we decide to do that and we feel like it’s the right choice, we will do it in 2027,” Tiley explained, officially opening up to the possibility of a historic change. The topic returns cyclically in the debate, especially in a historical phase in which the salary gap in tennis is increasingly reduced. This year, however, it returned with force after the two semi-finals of the men’s tournament, both of which ended in the fifth set.
tiley’s words
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“I still get chills just thinking about the two men’s semi-finals, they were incredible and then you can’t replicate that final of the day in the women’s”, added the Australian manager. According to Tiley, to guarantee an equal show it would be necessary to standardize the game format, also extending best-of-five sets matches to the women’s draw. Not for the entire tournament, however: the idea would be to apply the new rule only in the decisive phases: “But we have to think about it over a few matches, therefore quarter-finals, semi-finals and final”. In reality, women’s tennis has already known the five-set format: the finals of the WTA Finals were played with this formula from 1984 to 1998. A possible revolution, however, in the Grand Slam tournaments could not ignore some fundamental steps, first of all the consensus of the players. “It’s something we should put on the agenda and start discussing with the athletes. I don’t know if they would want it or not, but it’s something we need to consider for the women’s tournament,” Tiley clarified. At the moment, opinions within the circuit are divided. Aryna Sabalenka said she was sceptical, claiming that “women are not ready for best-of-five sets matches”. Iga Swiatek, however, after the victory at Wimbledon had not closed the possibility, leaving the debate open. Jessica Pegula’s position is of an opposite nature, according to which, rather, the men’s tournament should also return to the best-of-three-set format. The discussion remains open and any decision will depend entirely on two factors: the players and the Slam calendar.
